Police say a Hawaii woman disappeared voluntarily and traveled to Mexico
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 [December 03, 2024]
By HALLIE GOLDEN and JAIMIE DING
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Hawaii woman who vanished after landing in Los
Angeles three weeks ago disappeared voluntarily as she sought to “step
away from modern connectivity” and was last seen crossing into Mexico
with her luggage, police said at a news conference where they urged her
to contact her distraught family.
Hannah Kobayashi, 30, appeared unharmed as she walked alone into a
tunnel at the San Ysidro crossing about 125 miles (201 kilometers)
southwest of Los Angeles around noon on Nov. 12, the day after her
family reported her missing, LA police said Monday. Authorities made the
discovery after reviewing surveillance video from the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection late Sunday.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said there is no evidence
Kobayashi was being trafficked or was otherwise a victim of a crime. Her
disappearance is now classified as a “voluntary missing person.”
“We’ve basically done everything we can do at this point. She’s left the
country and in another nation now,” he said, adding that if she returns
to the U.S., law enforcement will be notified.
McDonnell said she has a right to her privacy, but urged her to reach
out to her family or law enforcement.
“A simple message could reassure those who care about her,” McDonnell
said. He explained that the missing person case will remain active until
her safety is confirmed by law enforcement.
Kobayashi went missing after the budding photographer from Maui didn’t
make a connecting flight to New York on Nov. 8 to travel for a new job
and to visit relatives. She told her family she would sleep in the Los
Angeles International Airport that night.
Family members assumed she was on standby for another flight, according
to her aunt, Larie Pidgeon. The next day, Kobayashi texted them to say
she was sightseeing in Los Angeles, planning to visit The Grove shopping
mall and downtown LA, Pidgeon said.
On Nov. 11, the family received “strange and cryptic, just alarming”
text messages from her phone that referenced her being “intercepted” as
she got on a Metro train and being scared that someone might be stealing
her identity, her aunt said.
Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, who had been in the search party along with
volunteers, was found dead by apparent suicide on Sunday, Nov. 24, in a
parking lot near LA International Airport, police and her family said.
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Ryan Kobayashi, center, holds a picture of his missing daughter
Hannah Kobayashi outside Crypto.com Arena, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024
in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
McDonnell said during a police commission meeting last Tuesday that
detectives determined Hannah Kobayashi missed her connecting flight
intentionally. Kobayashi's sister, Sydni Kobayashi, disputed his
statement in a social media post.
Police said Monday that after Hannah Kobayashi was seen in various
locations around LA, she requested that her luggage, which had been
checked to New York, be sent back to LAX. She then returned to the
airport to retrieve it on Nov. 11 and did not have her phone when
she left again, according to police.
Investigators found that she had “expressed the desire to step away
from modern connectivity."
Police also identified and questioned a man that Kobayashi was seen
with on the Metro. He was “cooperative” and said he met her at LAX,
police said.
Sydni Kobayashi did not immediately respond to an emailed request
for comment. Members of the public who were in the “Help Us Find
Hannah” Facebook group, which garnered the interest of more than
25,000 participants, shared a post from the group Monday that said
the family would be shutting the group down after “threats against
their lives and the lives of their small children.”
The post also said Sydni Kobayashi and her mother would not be
responding to any messages.
During the news conference, McDonnell reflected on all that the
family had endured these last few weeks.
“My ask would be to anybody considering doing this, think about the
people you’re leaving behind, your loved ones who are going to be
worried sick about you,” he said.
___
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or
someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis
lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There
is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
___
Golden reported from Seattle.
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